Self-Launched Ultimate Argentina Adventure: Buenos Aires, Salta & Iguazu Falls

Land at Ezeiza (EZE) and skip the private transfer: take the Tienda Leon or Manuel Tienda shuttle bus to the city centre for around £10, or an Uber/Cabify for £18-22. Check into a Palermo or San Telmo hostel or budget hotel. Spend the afternoon walking Palermo's parks and the Recoleta Cemetery (free to wander, small entry fee for some sections). Evening: eat at a neighbourhood parrilla — a bife de chorizo plus a glass of Malbec runs £12-18. Sort your SUBE travel card at any kiosk (top up ~£3) — you'll use it on the buses and subte all trip in the city.

🚌Airport shuttle bus ~£10 each way

🛏Hostel dorm in Palermo or San Telmo (£9-15) or private budget room (£22-32)

• →Self-guided Palermo walk
• →Recoleta Cemetery visit
• →Parrilla dinner

Book a morning city bike tour direct with one of the Palermo operators (Buenos Aires Bikes, La Bicicleta Naranja) — 3-4 hours covering La Boca, San Telmo, Puerto Madero and the northern barrios, roughly £22-28 including bike hire. Free afternoon for lunch and a siesta. In the evening, take a group tango class at a milonga like Salón Canning or La Catedral — beginner classes typically £6-10 including entry to the milonga afterwards. Drinks at the milonga are cheap; stay and watch the porteños dance.

🚌Subte/bus with SUBE card, ~£1.50 total

🛏Same hostel/budget hotel in Palermo or San Telmo

• →Guided city bike tour
• →Group tango class + milonga

Do not use a private transfer: take an Uber or the airport bus to Aeroparque Jorge Newbery (£4). Fly Aerolineas Argentinas or Flybondi to Salta (SLA), roughly 2h15, book early for £45-75 one way. On arrival take a taxi or the local bus to the centre (£3-5). Salta's historic core is compact and walkable — Plaza 9 de Julio, the Cathedral, the Cabildo, Iglesia San Francisco and the Convento San Bernardo. Join a free walking tour (tip-based, ~£5 tip) or just use a self-guided route. Dinner on Balcarce street: empanadas salteñas and locro for £8-12.

🚌Domestic flight ~£45-75 + local taxis/buses ~£8

🛏Hostel dorm or family-run hospedaje in Salta centro (£10-16 dorm / £22-30 private)

• →Free walking tour of Salta
• →San Bernardo Convent and Cathedral
• →Balcarce street dinner

The public bus (Flecha Bus or El Indio) from Salta to Cafayate takes about 4 hours down Ruta 68 through the Quebrada de las Conchas and costs around £10-13. Some services stop at the viewpoints. Alternatively, day-trip operators in Salta run the gorge as a guided bus-and-bike combo for £40-55 including rental and box lunch — this is the easiest way to replicate the original cycling day without your own vehicle. Either way you end in Cafayate, a low-slung wine town. Book a hostel or guesthouse near the plaza, wander the 19th-century streets, and eat dinner at a local bodega restaurant (£10-14).

🚌Public bus Salta-Cafayate £10-13 or bike-tour combo £40-55

🛏Cafayate hostel dorm (£9-14) or guesthouse private room (£20-30)

• →Quebrada de las Conchas viewpoint stops
• →Cycling the gorge (guided option)
• →Cafayate plaza evening

Book a half-day horseback ride direct with one of the Cafayate cabalgata outfits (Finca Don Lago area operators) — 3 hours through arid scrub to the red-and-white bands of the Colorados Canyon, roughly £30-45. Free afternoon for lunch and a siesta. Then walk or take a short taxi to Cafayate's bodegas: the town is best known for Torrontes grown at altitude. Tours at Bodega Nanni, El Esteco or Domingo Hermanos cost £6-12 and end with a tasting. Dinner of wine, cheese and empanadas for £10-14.

🚌Walking or local taxi ~£3

🛏Same Cafayate hostel/guesthouse

• →Horseback ride to Colorados Canyon
• →Winery tour and Torrontes tasting

There is no regular public bus on this stretch, so the practical self-launched route is a shared 4x4/minibus day tour from Cafayate to Cachi via Ruta 40, Angastaco, Quebrada de las Flechas (the arrow-blade rock formations), Molinos with its 17th-century church, and the weaving village of Seclantas — around £45-60 per person when shared, including stops and short walks. Alternatively you can pay for a seat in a remis (long-distance shared taxi) for a similar price. The day ends in Cachi, a remote colonial village under the snow-capped Nevado de Cachi; check into a small hospedaje and eat dinner on the plaza (£9-13). Note the altitude here — Cachi sits around 2,200m, so take it easy.

🚌Shared 4x4/minibus tour Cafayate-Cachi £45-60

🛏Cachi hospedaje or hostel (£12-18 dorm / £25-35 private)

• →Quebrada de las Flechas
• →Molinos church
• →Seclantas weavers
• →Cachi village walk

Take a shared tour or remis back toward Salta via Los Cardones National Park, stopping at the Condor Viewpoint for the giant cardon cactus forest and the Secrets of the Cardonal trail off the Recta del Tin-Tin. Keep an eye out for guanacos. Park entry and shared transport run around £25-40; the national park entrance fee is a few pounds. Have lunch from supplies bought in Cachi. Continue on to Salta city and check into a hostel for the night. Fun, cheap local extra: order a mate kit and try the national drink on your balcony, or hunt down a peña folk-music bar on Balcarce (£5-8 entry).

🚌Shared transport Cachi-Salta £25-40 incl. park stops

🛏Salta hostel dorm (£10-16) or budget hotel (£25-35)

• →Condor Viewpoint walk
• →Secrets of the Cardonal trail
• →Peña folk music night

Fly Salta to Puerto Iguazu (IGR) — Aerolineas Argentinas often routes via Buenos Aires; book early for £55-90 one way. From Iguazu airport take a taxi or the local bus to Puerto Iguazu town (£2-5). Base yourself in a budget hostel or posada in town rather than a jungle lodge. In the afternoon, the private Puerto Bemberg reserve is not normally open to individual day visitors, so substitute an equivalent free/cheap option: hike the trails at the Selva Iriapu (Hotel Cataratas' private reserve) or take a guided forest walk from town (~£10-15). Evening: dinner in Puerto Iguazu (£8-12) and an early night for the falls.

🚌Domestic flight ~£55-90 + airport bus/taxi ~£5

🛏Puerto Iguazu hostel dorm (£9-15) or posada private room (£22-32)

• →Rainforest trail walk
• →Guatambu-type waterfall visit nearby
• →Puerto Iguazu town evening

Take the local 'Rio Uruguay' bus from Puerto Iguazu to the National Park entrance (£2-3 return). Park entry for foreigners is around £15-20 — pre-book online if you can. Spend the day on the Upper Circuit, Lower Circuit and the train out to Devil's Throat (Garganta del Diablo) — different angles on the falls, with coatis, toucans and parrots along the walkways. Lunch inside the park is pricey (£8-12), so bring snacks. Optional add-on if you have energy: the Gran Aventura boat ride under the falls, bookable direct for ~£35-45. Dinner back in town for £10-14.

🚌Local park bus ~£3

🛏Same Puerto Iguazu hostel/posada

• →Iguazu National Park Upper and Lower Circuits
• →Devil's Throat train and walkway
• →Optional Gran Aventura boat trip

Book a half-day kayak trip direct with an Iguazu operator (Iguazu Kayak, Yacutinga, or the town's adventure outfitters) — 2-3 hours paddling the calm waters near the Parana/Uruguay confluence, watching river birds and looking up at the jungle canopy, usually £30-45 including guide, kayak and transfer. Lunch in town (£6-9). In the afternoon, do your own bit of conservation: many hostels and local NGOs in Iguazu run reforestation days planting native Atlantic Rainforest saplings — ask at your hostel or check with Fundación Bosques Nativos Argentinos; some offer it for free in exchange for volunteers. Final group-free dinner: milanesa or surubi fish in town (£9-13).

🚌Operator transfers included; local bus/taxi ~£4

🛏Same Puerto Iguazu hostel/posada

• →Half-day guided kayak trip
• →Atlantic Rainforest tree planting volunteer afternoon
• →Farewell dinner in Puerto Iguazu

Final morning in the rainforest or a lazy breakfast in town. If flying out of Puerto Iguazu (IGR) take the local bus or a shared taxi (~£3-5); if using Foz do Iguacu (IGU) in Brazil, remember you are crossing a border — take a taxi across (~£15-20) and check your visa/entry requirements for Brazil in advance. Total 3 hours of travel. There are more international connections from Foz do Iguacu via Sao Paulo, so many travellers head there instead.

🚌Local bus or taxi to airport ~£5-20 (border crossing extra)

🛏Checkout / onward travel

• →Morning in Puerto Iguazu
• →Transfer to airport